Friday, May 29, 2015

"The comments were sent by the Pope in writing to Cymerman along with
Argentine Rabbi Abraham Skorka, one of Francis’s close interfaith
colleagues, after the duo approached him following his meeting with
Abbas, Channel 2 reported."

And here is Francis' quote,

“Anyone who does not recognize the Jewish people and the State of Israel
— and their right to exist — is guilty of anti-Semitism.”

Henrique Cymerman mentioned above with Abraham Skorka as one of the two recipients of Francis' email even went to twitter where he sent three tweets out, in Hebrew, in English, and in Spanish, to let the world know Francis said the above.

Does anyone out there really think for a second, Raul is moving towards becoming a Catholic? We at Call Me Jorge... believe this statement by Raul Castro is a sign from God that the Vatican is continuing to move away from the religion instituted by Our Lord Jesus the Christ and instead is embracing Marx's religion of communism.

Then we have the deafening silence from the Vatican in the days leading up to the vote to amend Ireland's constitution to allow persons of the same sex to legally marry one another. These days the Vatican only speaks out about poverty, albeit while conviently neglecting to mention the evils of usury. It always about saving or helping the corporal body or making life better in the physical world but never do they show concern for the well-being of souls. At this point Francis has turned the Novus Ordo into an NGO.

This investigative report (in pdf) linked to below from 2014 connects some of the dots between the Novus Ordo, sodomy, Caritas Internationalis, abortion, communists, etc... They all seem to have the same goal in mind which simply is this, morally perverting the world while claiming they are eradicating poverty! This is Francis' utopian dream and the peoples' of this world nightmare.

“What’s the big deal?” sincerely asked a young priest when I told him how much I was looking forward to this golden jubilee of Nostra Aetate.

He inquired about the significance of this day not sarcastically or
cynically, but genuinely. Simply put, he so took Catholic-Jewish amity
for granted that he wondered why it was necessary to celebrate this
half-century old document.

For this fine young priest, that anyone would have ever considered
the Jews guilty of Deicide, thus meriting scorn, harassment, isolation,
or tragically worse, was utterly illogical and stupid. He had been
raised in a Catholic grade and high school where textbooks treated Jews
with dignity and respect, and the full horror of the Shoah
had been carefully examined; he had grown up in a parish where
Catholics and Jews alternated years coming together in prayer on the eve
of Thanksgiving, one year in the synagogue, the next in the parish
church; as a seminarian, he had taken a course in Judaism taught by a
Rabbi; and, now as a parish priest, is in a weekly scripture study with
an interfaith group of local clergy that included a Rabbi.

He had no idea that it was not always so . . . which is only another
argument for the case we make today: that the implementation of Nostra Aetate,
especially here in the United States, has been remarkably successful,
that the invitation to respect and dialogue offered by the council
fathers has been enthusiastically accepted, and has borne much fruit.

His “ho-humm” about today’s celebration, though, is not only a cause
for gratitude, in that Jewish Catholic friendship is now
so-taken-for-granted, but also a cause for some concern, since, well,
Jewish-Catholic friendship is now so-taken-for-granted! For, as my
grandpa used to say, “What you take for granted can easily be
ungranted!”

To be here with cardinals, bishops, priests, scholars, rabbis, and
leaders in interfaith dialogue is an honor. To work on behalf of my
brother bishops as co-chair with Rabbi David Strauss of the official
dialogue with the National Council of Synagogues, following the towering
achievements of Cardinal William Keeler and a generation of devoted
Catholic and Jewish leaders, is a privilege.

Veterans in this sacred task note that Jewish-Catholic friendship and cooperation has never been stronger, and I would concur.

The recent passing of the former Chief-Rabbi of the Eternal City,
Elio Toaff, reminds us of his deep companionship with Pope St. John Paul
II, as we realize that the late pontiff expressed explicit gratitude to
only two people in his last testament: his loyal priest secretary and
spiritual son, Stanislaus Dziwicz, and Rabbi Toaff.

Here in the United States we note the perseverance of the official
Jewish Catholic dialogue, both in the previously mentioned meetings
between bishops and the representatives of Reform, Conservative, and
Reconstructionist Judaism in the National Council of Synagogues, in our
consultations with the Rabbinic Council of America, and with the
Orthodox Union.

Nor can we forget the nearly four dozen centers of joint study
between Christians and Jews, such as the Council of Centers on
Jewish-Christian Relations, or the thousands of local and neighborhood
partnership between parishes and synagogues in prayer, theological
discourse, and community service.

Catholic clergy and people regularly benefit from ongoing education
sponsored by the AJC, the Anti-Defamation League, the Hartman Institute,
the Karski Institute and Yahad-in-Unum in Paris.

I could go on and on, but I’m preaching to the choir, as I think we
are all in concert observing that the brave fathers of the council,
aided by Jewish periti, could never have foreseen such progress.

Besides the organizational and educational progress referred to
above, two other areas this last half-century deserve special mention.

One is the fruitfulness of mutual theological study. It was Pope
John Paul II’s dream that Christians and Jews could return to the
theological conversations between Jews and Christians so rudely
interrupted 1,945 years ago when the Roman army leveled Jerusalem.
Beliefs cherished by each of us – – creation, election, covenant,
promise, redemption, the law, grace, revelation, to name a few – – were
kitchen table talk, or arguments, between Jews and Christians in the
decades right after Jesus, but faded in 70 A.D. when another priority – –
survival! – – took over.

Thanks to the green light of Nostra Aetate, such topics are back on the agenda. Alleluia!

The second area of progress has been the candor with which we have
confronted the testy controversies which have arisen. Raised voices
over such issues as the Good Friday prayer, the cross and convent at
Auschwitz, the visit of Kurt Waldheim to Pope John Paul, the lifting of
the excommunication of a holocaust – denying priest, the neuralgia over Dominus Jesus, the
role of the Holy See during World War II, the reputation of Pius XII,
necessary revision in the Oberammergau Passion Play, diplomatic
exchanges between Israel and the Vatican, and even last week’s nod to
Palestine by Pope Francis – – just to name a few – – have caused spats
and arguments. That we have not dodged them and have actually
persevered through them is a test of our mettle!

I remember my first meeting as a bishop-member of the Jewish-Catholic
dialogues, being amazed at the blunt bickering over Mel Gibson’s movie,
The Passion of the Christ.

“I could have stayed home and had dinner with my family if I wanted
this kind of arguing,” I whispered to an older bishop during the break.

“But that’s the point,” he came back. “We are family, so we argue because we get scared and mad when something threatens to tear us apart.” Not bad . . .

As we look back over the last five decades of progress since Nostra Aetate,
I wonder what other successors will observe in May, 2065, when they
gather to savor, please God, the advances made since today.

I do see five areas where we have indeed begun to “cast out to the
deep,” challenges that could bring us into an even more durable and
beneficial alliance. See if you agree . . .

One would be an intensification of the most
obvious imperative for any enterprise by any group of believers: to
reclaim the primacy of the God in a world that prefers not to take Him
seriously, to ignore Him, or even to deny Him.

Here we face together the impact of that loaded word secularism.
This is a point I spent a whole lecture on two weeks ago at the Jewish
Theological Seminary back home in New York, proposing that this effort
at the core of both Jewish and Catholic belief was the essence of Pope
Saint John Paul II’s post- Nostra Aetate agenda. I was glad that the respondents, Rabbi Burton Visotzky and Chancellor Arnold Eisen, agreed.

Simply put, I pointed out that John Paul II was convinced that the
most insidious toxin infecting humanity was the denial of God’s
sovereignty, even existence, and that the Church’s most natural ally in
restoring faith in a world gone skeptical were the Jews. Humanity’s
fateful preference, lurking since the Enlightenment, lurching now, was,
to use Rabbi Jonathan Sax’s definition of secularism, “to get along just
fine without God.”

The pope was convinced that the Jewish community
would share his urgency that such a cultural sidelining of faith must be
reversed. He died, while not without hope, certainly with an
impatience that neither Jews nor Catholics seemed to be making much
progress in inviting the world to believe that, in the words of the
psalmist, “Only in God is my soul at rest.”

I recounted the story of John Paul’s heroic and tumultuous 1979
return to Poland in what historians now call “nine days that changed the
world,” and how, inspired by his presence and words, a two-million
strong throng in Warsaw on his last day chanted at the top of their
voices, to the grimaces of the KGB and Polish communist officials, “We
want God!”

“We want God!” The primitive cry of faith, humanity’s innate longing
for the Divine, a thirst denied, ignored, ridiculed, outlawed, and
rationalized away for too long by the oppression of a regime that had
vainly sought purpose in systems that forgot God! It was as if the
Polish Pope had put on the lips of his people the pining of the Hebrew
psalmist, “Like a deer that thirsts for living water, so my soul longs
for you, my God.”

And, it was his aspiration that what most naturally bound Jews and
Catholics together would be the common effort to help humanity
articulate once again the desire what for too long had been suppressed,
“We want God!”

Both Jews and Christians look out their windows daily to behold, in
the prescient observation of Blessed John Henry Newman a
century-and-a-half ago, “a world that is simply irreligious.”

Two, the friendship inspired by Nostra Aetate coaxes us to explore together the pastoral issues that befuddle both of us.

Not long after my arrival in New York, Rabbi Peter Rubenstein kindly
invited me to meet a group of his congregants at Central Synagogue.
They thoughtfully spoke to me about their concerns, not surprisingly
concentrating on those familiar two categories that have characterized
post- Nostra Aetate dialogue; namely, theological issues such as covenant, election, Israel, and neuralgic points such as the hoped-for opening of the Vatican archives, and their apprehension at the time that the Church’s commitment to Nostra Aetate was slackening.

Then they kindly asked me what I thought should concern us Catholics
and Jews. I stayed away from the theological and neuralgic, and went
for the pastoral.

“I have a hunch,” I began, “that you committed Jews at this Synagogue
have the same concerns that my parishioners at Saint Patrick’s have:
how to pass on the faith to our kids and grandkids who are growing-up in
a culture that hardly has room for religion; how the reality of
intermarriage affects us; how to preserve the Sabbath in a society where
soccer and shopping reign; how to make sure our kids have some tether
to the faith when they leave for college; how to entice back the crowds
of our spiritual kin who have drifted away.”

It was a light bulb moment, as my new Jewish neighbors sat-up and exclaimed, “Oh, my, you Catholics worry about all that, too?”

You bet we do! And putting our shoulders and Yarmulkes together to
talk about them could be one of the more rewarding results of our
celebrated Nostra Aetate friendship – – comparing notes on common pastoral challenges!

A couple months ago, I was invited to preach a Sabbath service at a
local synagogue. During the prayer, a young boy celebrated his Bar
Mitzvah. After the ceremony I commented to the Rabbi how powerful such a
ritual was. He looked at me and commented, “Odds are, we won’t see
that young man again for thirty years, until he brings his son here for Bar Mitzvah! “Oh,” I replied, “We Catholics call that the Sacrament of Confirmation!”

That’s what I mean by common pastoral challenges!

And point three is a common front on the
most pressing pastoral burr in the saddle of all: the unavoidable fact
that what sociologists call “inherited religions” – – read: Jews and
Catholics – – are losing their members.

Both Jews and Catholics now approach the findings that Pew Research
Center as we do the obituary page, but we can hardly ignore their
challenge. Yes, both of us can rejoice in the data that the majority of
Catholics and Jews remain steadfast in their allegiance; yes, there’s a
bit of evidence that the rate of defection may be leveling off . . .
but, it’s “alarm-clock time” for both of us, because the statistics
present unavoidable conclusions: belief may be high, belonging is
not; and no longer can we presume that being born Jewish or Catholic is
a guarantee that one will freely choose to live and die in that faith.

As Pope John Paul soberly commented, no longer can we count on birth,
family tradition, or culture to automatically pass on the faith.

We Jews and Catholics – – and, lest we forget, Islam (which brings up
yet another challenge!) – – believe we are born into the faith, we
inherit it. We did not choose our faith – – God chose us! We have no
more business choosing our supernatural family than we do our natural
family! We’re stuck with it. Rabbi Joshua Heschel entitled his
masterpiece, not “Man’s Search for God,” but God’s Search for Man!

When the teenage girl asked the “Whisky Priest” in Graham Greens’ classic, The Power and the Glory, the
priest fleeing Mexican troops persecuting the Church, why he didn’t
just leave the Church and save his life, he replied, “But I can’t just
leave it. It’s part of me.”

No more for a growing swath of our people! And therein is the most
towering pastoral problem we face together: to recover the sense of belonging we believe essential to our relationship with God.

We Jews and Catholics face two obstacles in our mutual insistence on belonging:
The first is the sociological phenomenon noted above, that people
today prefer belief over belonging: They want God as their Father as
long as they’re the only child; they want the Lord as their shepherd as
long as the flock consists of one lamb – – themselves; they want God as
their general as long as it’s an army of one. None of this sits well
with Jews who believe God chose a people, or Catholics who believe we
are only a part of a body with many members.

The second obstacle we face is America itself, which stresses personal choice in
everything from coffee to religion. In fact, our highly Puritan,
Calvinist religious climate puts the premium on my personal choice of
God, not His choice of me. Cardinal Francis George used to worry that
Catholics in America were becoming “Calvinists with incense.” His fear
was well-grounded.

So, what’s happening is that religion is now listed under “hobby” or
“personal interests,” if at all, instead of “family background and
history” – – and that, my friends, is a juicy challenge for both of us.
For us to tackle it together could be a good time!

Four, the gruesome reality of religious
persecution is yet another worry that unites us. Somewhere right this
moment a Jew or a Catholic is in the crosshairs of the rifle scope of an
extremist. All believers – – Jews, Christians, and, yes, genuine
moderate Muslims – – which means most of them – – are at risk in vast
regions of the world. Christians fear ISIS and Boko Haram
in the Mideast and Africa, and Islamic and Hindu extremists in the far
East, while Jews fear Islamic terrorists in Israel and anti-Semitic
thugs in Europe.
Our God, we both believe, can bring good out of evil, leading to what
Pope Benedict, Cardinal Koch, and Pope Francis have called an
“Ecumenism of Martyrdom,” as Jews and Christians huddle more closely
together to protect, advocate for, and care for each other as mobs with
torches and swords threaten our churches and synagogues in other parts
of the globe.

Five, and finally, Nostra Aetate
has given us an infrastructure of friendship these past fifty years
allowing us to reclaim and preach again the Biblical reality that
popular soothing spirituality would rather us forget: sin and redemption

Why in the world we Jews and Catholics have lost our voice in preaching sin andredemption
is beyond me. If our people believe they are without sin, that they
need no salvation, why would they sense a need for church, synagogue,
religion, belonging? Affirmation and fellowship they can find much
easier over a latte at Starbucks or at the gym … and they are!

Here I will defer to an eloquent author, David Brooks, whose new bestseller, The Road to Character, should be gift wrapped for every graduate these days.

Monday I interviewed him on the radio, and got red with embarrassment
when he asked why the Church, why the Synagogue had stopped preaching sin and redemption,
without which culture is doomed to pledge continued allegiance to the
central fallacy of modern life, that “The Big Me,” the culture of
achievement, our total focus on what he terms “resumé virtues” as
opposed to “eulogy virtues,” can lead to true fulfillment.

No, David Brooks insists, we must preach that I am flawed; I am
imperfect; I have a dark side; I am incomplete; I am a sinner; I need
redemption, and I can’t give it to myself!
That’s our forte, folks! That’s the Jewish and Christian vocabulary! That’s what the prophets and saints claimed!

Earlier I suggested that we Jews and Catholics are losing our
people. Where are they going? I can only answer for Catholics: most go
to no other religion, but became a “none.” But those who do join
another church sure aren’t registering with the Unitarians! They’re
more than likely signing–up at a Bible waving mega-church that bellows sin and salvation
in the name of the God of Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and Jesus, because all
they’re hearing at Sunday Mass is a version of the discredited “I’m ok –
you’re ok” therapy of thirty years ago.

It’s time to reclaim our specialty as Jews and Christians: sin, grace, mercy, redemption!
Enough from me . . . By now it’s obvious that I am far from a
theologian, and still a rookie in Jewish-Catholic dialogue compared to
distinguished veterans here with us. I was only fifteen when Nostra Aetate was promulgated by Blessed Paul VI.

But I am a pastor, and, as such, both rejoice in the progress that
has been made, and relish the goals we realistically admit loom before
us.

And, for the record, I told that young priest, “Listen, Buddy, this is a big deal!”

Yes, Francis felt he needed to be interviewed again so as to demonstrate how humble he is. Why he longs to saunter in the streets and go to a pizzeria where he can eat a good pizza. Learn all about the mysterious man from Argentina such as,

dreams of creating a poverty free Utopia of the world

hasn't watched television since 15 July 1990

reads only one newspaper, the Italian socialist daily, La Repubblica

used to fear the media

loves people & general audiences

desires to be remembered as a 'good guy'

and much, much more!

The full interview (in Spanish) with La Voz del Pueblo can be read by (clicking here).

Francis is at it again, making another video for his Protestant 'brothers in blood'. This one was for the Celebration of Christian Unity event held by the John 17 Movement in Phoenix, Arizona. Francis' usual Protestant friends were all there. Here's the flyer for the event:

What is interesting is that at 4 minutes 16 seconds in his video message Francis says,

"I feel like saying something that may sound controversial, or even heretical, perhaps."

Apparently Francis has been so poorly catechized he doesn't recognize that his words which follow this statement,

"It is he who is persecuting Christians today, he who is anointing us
with (the blood of) martyrdom. He knows that Christians are disciples of
Christ: that they are one, that they are brothers! He doesn’t care if
they are Evangelicals, or Orthodox, Lutherans, Catholics or Apostolic…he
doesn’t care! They are Christians. And that blood (of martyrdom)
unites. Today, dear brothers and sisters, we are living an “ecumenism of
blood”"

...are in fact heresy! What God is Francis praying to which makes him think this way?

Pope Francis has sent a videomessage on the occasion of the Day for Christian Unity which took place in Phoenix, Arizona in the United States on May 23rd.

Below is the English translation of the Pope’s video message

Brothers and sisters, may the peace of Christ be with you. Forgive me if I speak in Spanish, but my English isn’t good enough for me to express myself properly. I speak in Spanish but, above all, I speak in the language ofthe heart.

[in Spanish:]

I have the invitation you sent me for this celebration of Christian Unity, this day of reconciliation. And I wish to join you from here. “Father, may we be one so that the world may believe you sent me”. This is the slogan, the theme of the meeting: Christ’s prayer to the Father for the grace of unity.

Today, Saturday May 23rd, from 9 in the morning until 5 in the afternoon, I will be with you spiritually and with all my heart. We will search together, we will pray together, for the grace of unity. The unity that is budding among us is that unity which begins under the seal of the one Baptism we have all received. It is the unity we are seeking along a common path. It is the spiritual unity of prayer for one another. It is the unity of our common labour on behalf of our brothers and sisters, and all those who believe in the sovereignty of Christ.

Dear brothers and sisters, division is a wound in the body of the Church of Christ. And we do not want this wound to remain open. Division is the work of the Father of Lies, the Father of Discord, who does everything possible to keep us divided.

Together today, I here in Rome and you over there, we will ask our Father to send the Spirit of Jesus, the Holy Spirit, and to give us the grace to be one, “so that the world may believe.” I feel like saying something that may sound controversial, or even heretical, perhaps. But there is someone who“knows” that, despite our differences, we are one. It is he who is persecuting us. It is he who is persecuting Christians today, he who is anointing us with (the blood of) martyrdom. He knows that Christians are disciples of Christ: that they are one, that they are brothers! He doesn’t care if they are Evangelicals, or Orthodox, Lutherans, Catholics or Apostolic…he doesn’t care! They are Christians. And that blood (of martyrdom) unites. Today, dear brothers and sisters, we are living an “ecumenism of blood”. This must encourage us to do what we are doing today: to pray, to dialogue together, to shorten the distance between us, to strengthen our bonds of brotherhood.

I am convinced it won’t be theologians who bring about unity among us. Theologians help us, the science of the theologians will assist us, but if we hope that theologians will agree with one another, we will reach unity the day after Judgement Day. The Holy Spirit brings about unity. Theologians are helpful, but most helpful is the goodwill of us all who are on this journey with our hearts open to the Holy Spirit!

In all humility, I join you as just another participant on this day of prayer, friendship, closeness and reflection. In the certainty that we have one Lord: Jesus is the Lord. In the certainty that this Lord is alive: Jesus is alive, the Lord lives in each one of us. In the certainty that He has sent the Spirit He promised us so that this “harmony” among all His disciples might be realised.

Dear brothers and sisters, I greet you warmly, with an embrace. I pray for you. I pray with You. And I ask you, please, to pray for me. Because I need your prayers in order to be faithful to what the Lord wants from my Ministry.

Rabbi Abraham Skorka
considered this Wednesday that anti-Semitism in Europe is increasing,
due to the low effective reaction capacity before Islamic certain
factors, seeking to defeat the State of Israel.
The lack of responsiveness of Europe before the attacks against the Jews
resulted in the view of Abraham Skorka in attacks in Paris.
"France reacted only after [Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin] Netanyahu
have invited all Jews to go to Israel (...) did not seek to 'average' in
each attack," said the the rector of the Latin American Rabbinic
Seminary Buenos Aires, away from the Estoril Conference, taking place
until Friday.
There is never a clear and unequivocal answer when it denies the 'shoah
"(holocaust), he said.
State of Israel
The construction of the State of Israel is a "Jewish people's dream",
which began in the early nineteenth century. "It is the result of the
Holocaust, is a response to 'shoah'," he added.
The rabbi considered the entire Zionist movement is a response developed
by the Jewish people over the centuries. "Unfortunately, the return to
Zion and the Declaration of Independence had a conflicting party that
has not been resolved," he said.
"But this is a dream of a people that has become reality and the moment
that came true there was no Palestinian identity (...) then emerged
conflicts in which the State of Israel struck, in some cases, and missed
other as with everything that is human, "he said.
"To deny the existence of Israel (...) of a democratic state of law,
after all the experiences we have had in history is to deny the
existence of the Jewish people (...) which has a deep connection between
the land of Israel and the Jewish people. After the 'shoah' much of the
Jewish culture is recreated in Israel. "

"To deny the existence
of Israel (...) of a democratic state of law, after all the experiences
we have had in history is to deny the existence of the Jewish people
(...) which has a deep connection between the land of Israel and the
Jewish people. After the 'shoah' much of the Jewish culture is recreated
in Israel.

"To deny the existence
of Israel (...) of a democratic state of law, after all the experiences
we have had in history is to deny the existence of the Jewish people
(...) which has a deep connection between the land of Israel and the
Jewish people. After the 'shoah' much of the Jewish culture is recreated
in Israel.